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Summary: Night Flying
Review: Night Flying by Rita Murphy is an unusual story of a young girl, Georgia, growing up with a house full of women, her overbearing grandmother, her meek and loving mother, and two of her aunts, all of which are 'night flyers'. Grandmother rules the house with such strict guidelines such as no men in the house, no flying in the day, no meat, and the list of rules goes on and on. Everyone in the house obeys grandmother for fear that they will be cast out of the family like Carmen, one of Georgia's aunts. Georgia often wonders, 'Who is this mysterious aunt that everyone talks about in such hushed tones and why was she outcast?' Georgia finds the answer to that question and many more when she decides to go out on her own and break a few of grandmother's rules. Georgia stands up to her grandmother and sets a new standard for her mother and her aunts to follow.
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Summary: Flying Into Reality
Review: Rita Murphy's Night Flying is a captivating tale about a girl getting in touch with herself that makes your greatest dreams turn to reality. It's very easy to fall into. When you read it, you'll feel as if you're a part of it. Flying with Eva, Maeve, Suki, stif old grandmother, and Georgia and feeling their anger, sorrow, and joy. It will inspire you to be open and truthful with yourself and with others. I recomend this book for ages 9-99 and garentee a great ride.
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Summary: Fine coming of age tale.
Review: Rita Murphy, Night Flying (Delacorte, 2000)Night Flying is one of those young adult books I happened to pick up by accident because it was in the wrong section at the Case book sale. Glad I did, because this is a fun little book. Murphy never talks down to her audience, refreshing in a YA novel, and better yet, adult readers won't gag on the sentiment. Murphy has a message, but she is as good as any novelist writing for adults (and better than most) at making it palatable. Georgia Hansen is on the eve of her sixteenth birthday. To say her life has been something less than conventional would be an understatement. She lives in a house with only women, none of whom work (all are living off the inheritance of her great-grandfather, an inventor who died with enough to ensure that Georgia's granddaughters will never have to work, either) and all of whom can fly. They do so only under the auspices of very strict rules; each female member of the family adds a rule as time goes on. You can imagine what it's like after a few generations. All, with the exception of wayward Aunt Carmen (who lives across the country), are under the thumb of Georgia's grandmother, a stern and humorless individual whose main goal seems to be making life miserable for her offspring and their offspring. Things start to get messy when Carmen comes back for Georgia's birthday celebration. Georgia immediately forms a love/hate relationship with her, yearning after Carmen's freedom while wondering how someone could so easily slip the bonds of family obligation. (It's not so simple as all that, of course, which Georgia finds out eventually, but so the relationship begins). At its core, this is a pretty simple coming-of-age tale, albeit with magical-realistic elements. Murphy, as with the best of the magical realist authors, never allows the trappings to get in the way of her story, especially her character development. Everyone, major characters and minor, is well developed and has a place in the little sonata that is this novel; not a note falls out of place. The allegory is somewhat obvious (the ability to fly is gained, but suppressed until the sixteenth birthday), and the action in the climax somewhat predictable, but Murphy addresses the subject form a perspective that is not often seen; she's a young adults' author writing from the perspective of a young adult who has a brain of her own, rather than showing a young adult whose beliefs and opinions are just those of a "more mature" (read: adult) mindset. This, more than anything, lends the book its magical realism; the idea that
sometimes the kids really are correct. A fine read. ****
Rating:
Summary: Short and Sweet
Review: The women in the Hansen family have always had the power to fly. Georgia has been fling for as long as she remembers and when she turns 16 she will be able to fly by herself for the first time. But everything gets screwed up when Georgia's Aunt Carmen comes to visit. The aunt that has been banished from the family. Suddenly Georgia's perception on her solo flight, her grandmother's harsh rules, and her life is changed. So when she commits an unforgivable offense, how will her family react? I loved this book. It's was VERY short but still a wonderful read. Georgia is easy to relate to and reading her story just makes you wanna fly. If you like stories with just a pinch (or more) of the supernatural in them this book is for you.
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Summary: Get ready to take flight...
Review: The women of the Hansen family can fly and have been flying for generations. Unfortunately, however, their gift is bound by a strict code of rules laid down by the family matriarch, Grandmother Hansen. Grandmother Hansen is both domineering and cold. She controls the both the family fortune and the lives of her daughters and granddaughter with an iron fist. But family secrets are set to fly as 16-year-old Georgia Hansen's initiation ceremony draws near. The return of Georgia's rebellious Aunt Carmen, who was banished from the family years earlier for breaking Grandmother Hansen's rules, creates a major dilemma for Georgia. Should she fall in line with the rest of the Hansen clan in accepting Grandmother Hansen's controlling protection or should she step forward and take back control of her own life?
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Summary: NIGHT FLYING a Dream Come True
Review: What a spare, yet rich, work of literature! NIGHT FLYING speaks to that part in all of us which longs to be master of our dreams. Though written for the young adult market, this gorgeous, ethereal book is a must-read for all independent, creative thinkers, aged 10 to 100. This is a pass-along book. You will read it in one day, and then will want to share it with a special person. Thank you, Rita Murphy, for sharing your talent with me! You are a true artist.
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